Hale Goksever Celik, MD

Dr. Goksever Celik is an obstetrician and gynecologist, graduated from the medical school of the Hacettepe University in Ankara, and trained through Obstetrics and Gynecology fellowship at Dokuz Eylul University in Izmir. She has been a postdoctoral research fellow at Molecular Biology and Genetics at Istanbul University. She has been participating in several research especially interested in the association between endometriosis surgery and ovarian reserve and the genetic basis of endometriosis.

Is there any relationship between age at diagnosis and the severity of endometriosis?

Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent gynecological disease mostly encountered in reproductive-aged women. Early diagnosis is important, as endometriosis impairs the quality of life. The most accepted theory is that endometriosis is a progressive disease and its stage increases with age. Dr. Comptour et al. from France published a study titled “Endometriosis: Age at Diagnosis and the Severity of the Disease” in the Journal of Gynecology Obstetrics and Human Reproduction. The authors sought to investigate the effects of age at diagnosis of endometriosis…

Key Points Lay Summary

Psychological effect of endometriosis due to chronic pelvic pain

The most common symptoms of endometriosis are dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, and chronic pelvic pain, all of which affect the quality of women’s lives. Early diagnosis and management are important as endometriosis impairs the quality of life of patients and creates a serious social and economic burden. Two scientists from the Department of Clinical, Educational & Health Psychology, University College London, United Kingdom, published “A thematic synthesis of qualitative studies and surveys of the psychological experience of painful endometriosis” in the BMC Women’s…

Key Points Lay Summary

Are women with endometriosis more prone to have mental health disorders?

Endometriosis is a long-term morbidity resulting in impaired physical, sexual, psychological, and social health. The most common clinical findings of endometriosis patients are chronic pelvic pain and fertility problems, associated with impaired quality of life. These women are also affected regarding psychological health due to disease-associated symptoms. A group of scientists from Austria led by Dr.Seeber published a systematic literature review entitled “Endometriosis and mental health disorders: identification and treatment as part of a multimodal approach” in the journal named Fertility…

Key Points Lay Summary

Is post-cesarean pain perception and analgesic use in endometriosis-affected women different?

It has been known that endometriosis patients have increased pain sensitivity and different reactions to pain compared to women having no endometriosis. Several mechanisms such as nociception, inflammation, and changes in peripheral and central nervous system pain processing have been proposed to explain this altered pain perception. Heresco et al.from Israel published a retrospective case-control study titled “Pain perception and analgesic use after cesarean delivery among women with endometriosis” in the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology. The…

Key Points Lay Summary

Complementary and alternative therapies for managing acyclic pelvic pain in women with endometriosis

The quality of life in women with endometriosis is affected depending on the symptoms and signs of endometriosis such as dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, chronic pelvic pain, and infertility. Because of different clinical spectrum and diagnostic delays, there is no optimum management method in all women with endometriosis. Expectant, medical, or surgical methods are personalized depending on the patient’s clinical presentation and gynecologic evaluation. Mongiovi et al., from the United States, published a longitudinal cohort study titled “Differences in characteristics and use of…

Key Points Lay Summary

Endometriosis and the risk to have mental disorders

The most common clinical findings of endometriosis patients are pelvic pain and fertility problems, resulting in impairment of quality of life. These women are also affected regarding psychological health due to disease-associated symptoms. Dr. Wang et al., from Taiwan, published a study titled “Association Between Endometriosis and Mental Disorders Including Psychiatric Disorders, Suicide, and All-Cause Mortality-A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study in Taiwan” in the International Journal of Women’s Health. In this study, the authors aimed to evaluate whether there was any…

Key Points Lay Summary

The effect of medical treatment on sexual function and quality of life in women with endometriosis

Women with endometriosis suffer from dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia and chronic pelvic pain, all of which has significant negative consequences on their physical and psychological health regarding sexual function, work and social relationships. Biasioli et al. from Italy, published an article entitled “Does Sexual Function and Quality of Life Improve after Medical Therapy in Women with Endometriosis? A Single-Institution Retrospective Analysis” in the Journal of Personalized Medicine. The authors aimed to evaluate whether there is an impact of medical treatment on quality of…

Key Points Lay Summary

Novel high-risk candidate genes for familial endometriosis

Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disease with a genetic background resulting in familial clustering. Although multiple susceptibility loci have been identified in genome-wide association studies, high-risk predisposing variants have not been defined yet. A group of scientists from Finland, published a study en titled “Whole‑exome sequencing reveals candidate high‑risk susceptibility genes for endometriosis” in the journal Human Genomics. The authors aimed to determine high-risk candidate genes for familial endometriosis and to assess the association of endometriosis with high-grade serous carcinoma. A Finnish family…

Key Points Lay Summary

A non-invasive test to determine the risk of endometriosis in women having chronic pelvic pain or unexplained infertility

Women having endometriosis may suffer from chronic pelvic pain and/or infertility, both of which diminish the quality of life in these women. Minimalization of the time between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis is essential to improve patients’ lives. However, there is a delay of approximately 4-11 years from the development of symptoms to diagnosis due to the absence of reliable and non-invasive screening test. Dr.Nezhat et al., from the USA, published a retrospective cross-sectional study entitled “Use of the…

Key Points Lay Summary

The type of surgical approach compared to complications and recurrence for colorectal endometriosis

Women with endometriosis may have extension and infiltration of the intestine, called "colorectal endometriosis, in up to 12%. The main symptoms are alterations in bowel habits, pelvic pain, and/or infertility. The gold standard management option for colorectal endometriosis is surgical removal of all endometriotic lesions resulting in healthy, disease-free margins. However, the intra- and postoperative complications can be experienced frequently due to dense adhesions and deep pelvic involvement. Dr. Christiansen et al. from the USA published a systematic review entitled…

Key Points Lay Summary

No increased risk of major postoperative complications in women operated by experienced surgeons in endometriosis centers

Recurrent surgery may be needed in up to 35% of endometriosis patients. The reason for repeated surgery may be residual or recurrent disease. In other words, multiple surgical procedures are a common phenomenon for women having endometriosis. Knowing the impact of previous surgeries on subsequent surgeries is so important to provide correct counseling to the patient and to make preoperative planning. Tummers et al. from Netherlands published a study titled “Evaluation of the effect of previous endometriosis surgery on clinical…

Key Points Lay Summary

Underestimation of Dysmenorrhea in adolescents

Women with endometriosis may suffer from painful symptoms, especially during menstruation or sexual intercourse. One of the main etiologic reasons for secondary dysmenorrhea is endometriosis, and it has a poor impact on life quality. Underestimation of dysmenorrhea and consideration of dysmenorrhea as a normal and transient symptom in adolescents and young women may result in delayed diagnosis and management of endometriosis. Martire et al., from Italy, published a review entitled “Endometriosis and Adolescence: The Impact of Dysmenorrhea” in the Journal of…

Key Points Lay Summary

Endometriosis and Physical Activity

Endometriosis causes abstinence from their daily life, especially during painful periods. Decreased physical function might result in reduced physical activity. Sachs et al., from Switzerland, published a study titled “Physical Activity in Women with Endometriosis: Less or More Compared with a Healthy Control?” in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The authors aimed to investigate the effect of endometriosis on physical activity, compared to women without any suspicious signs of endometriosis in this multi-center, cross-sectional study. Demographic and…

Key Points Lay Summary

Treatment of superficial dyspareunia using topical estrogens in postmenopausal women with a history of endometriosis

Genitourinary syndrome of menopause is defined as a collection of symptoms and signs caused by hypoestrogenic changes to the labia majora/minora, clitoris, vestibule/introitus, vagina, urethra, and bladder that occur in menopausal patients. Sexual dysfunction and superficial dyspareunia can be experienced by postmenopausal women resulting in decreased quality of life. Hormonal or non-hormonal treatments (lubricants/moisturizers) may be prescribed to manage vulvovaginal atrophy-associated superficial dyspareunia. It should be known that there are some special populations, such as women with a history of endometriosis:…

Key Points Lay Summary

Preoperative flexible sigmoidoscopy in patients with deep infiltrating endometriosis

Deep infiltrating endometriosis is defined as endometriotic lesions extending 5 mm or more below the peritoneal surface. Women with deep endometriosis have rectovaginal lesions affecting the tissue adjacent to, or directly involving the rectum and/or rectosigmoid colon with a 90% incidence. Deep endometriosis may be diagnosed or suspected with transvaginal ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging in experienced hands. Routine flexible sigmoidoscopy is suggested in cases with suspicious rectovaginal deep endometriosis. Sewell et al., from the United Kingdom, published a study titled “The…

Key Points Lay Summary

Moderate-to-severe Endometriosis and "The Cumulative live birth rate" in IVF Cycles

Infertility is one of the major symptoms in women with endometriosis. The incidence of endometriosis is approximately 10% in reproductive-aged women and up to 40-50% in infertile women. There are multifactorial mechanisms resulting in endometriosis-associated infertility such as anatomic distortion, impaired tubal and sperm motility, and diminished endometrial receptivity. Dr. Zimmermann et al, from France, published a study titled “Impact of moderate-to-severe endometriosis on IVF cumulative live birth rate: a retrospective matched cohort study” in the journal "Reproductive BioMedicine Online". The…

Key Points Lay Summary

Are women with endometriosis more prone to pregnancy loss?

Endometriosis is a gynecological disease of reproductive-aged women who may suffer from reproductive outcomes such as infertility, miscarriage, and recurrent pregnancy loss. Pregnancy loss is the spontaneous loss of a pregnancy until 22 weeks of gestation including spontaneous abortion, missed abortion, and gestational sac without a fetus; while recurrent pregnancy loss is defined as three consecutive pregnancy losses. Dyhrberg Boje et al, and associates from Denmark, published a study titled “Endometriosis is associated with pregnancy loss: a nationwide historical cohort…

Key Points Lay Summary

Endometriosis and Genetic Polymorphisms in Proinflammatory Cytokines

Several pathophysiological mechanisms have been proposed for the chronic inflammatory nature of endometriosis, such as retrograde menstruation, coelomic metaplasia, hormonal change, oxidative stress and inflammation, immune dysfunction, and apoptosis suppression. One of the most widely accepted theories in recent years is inflammatory dysfunction and genetic polymorphism. Babah et al., a research group from Nigeria and the UK, published a study titled “Serum concentrations of IL‑16 and its genetic polymorphism rs4778889 affect the susceptibility and severity of endometriosis in Nigerian women”…

Key Points Lay Summary

Changes over time in day surgery for endometriosis in Canada

There are several medical and surgical treatment options for the management of endometriosis. Surgical approach is generally preferred in women with atypical endometrioma appearance on ultrasound, and who have persistent pain despite medical treatment. Surgery is often the first choice for endometriomas with rapid increase in size. Bahrami et al., from Canada, published a study titled “Day surgery for endometriosis in Canada: A retrospective cohort of trend and regional variation in types of surgeries and their complications” in the journal…

Key Points Lay Summary

Meningioma risk in women with endometriosis using Nomegestrol acetate

Women with endometriosis mostly suffer from symptoms such as chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, and infertility. Early diagnosis and management have importance as endometriosis impairs the quality of life and creates a serious social and economic burden. There are different medical treatment options including only progestogens, oral contraceptives, or gonadotropin-releasing agonists/antagonists. Combined oral contraceptives are a good modality if women request contraception or progestogen monotherapy is associated with breakthrough bleeding or bone mineral density reduction. The standard progestogen in oral…

Key Points Lay Summary